The First Volume of Qinghe County

  "It's very dark today." Ximen Qing looked up at the sky, the moon was dim and hazy, couldn't see his fingers when he stretched out his hand, it was a perfect night for murder with the dark moon and strong wind.

  Wu Qianhu, don't let me down.

  "Master, it's cold, let's go back and rest early." Snowy, who was by his side, was somewhat afraid of the cold and would have liked to shrink her whole body into Ximen Qing's arms.

  Ximen Qing really enjoyed this tight hug, he could feel the elasticity of Snow's small breasts pressing against his chest, giving him an impulsive feeling.

  It's still a bit cold for an outdoor battle in this weather.

  So Ximen Qing and Yuxiang returned to the small building, had a good time on the bed, and after Yuxiang fell asleep with excitement and fatigue, Ximen Qing quietly got dressed, closed the door behind him.

  Outside the door, Xiaotianqing held a lantern and shone it on Ximen Qing: "Master, everything is ready."

  "Good." Ximen Qing nodded and followed Xiaotianqing to the main hall. Unusually, the hall was brightly lit, and Jiang Zheng, the abacus expert, was sipping warm Daughter Red wine while casually flipping through Abacus Li's account book.

  "Ximen brothers, this is a confusing account." Jiang Jing returned and had a drink with Ximen Qing, happily accepting the title of brother: "Just took a simple look, Wu's family has also lost you around 5,000 yuan. Brother, this move is quite sinister haha!"

  "If I am offended by a man, I will offend him." Ximen Qing smiled and said: "If it's not said to be ten thousand taels of silver, where did the three thousand taels come from for Magistrate Lord?"

  "Good words!" Jiang Jing, the divine calculator, downed a cup of wine and slammed his hand on the table: "People like Wu Qianhu should be eradicated!"

  "Come on, come on, Ximen brothers, let's have a drink together!" The God of Calculation beckoned: "When can you tell me how you came up with that weird solution? A normal person would break their head and still not be able to think of it."

  Ximen Qing burst out laughing and said: "If one's head is smashed open, only brain pulp will flow out, the person will be dead, of course they won't be able to think."

  "That's right!" Jiang Jing also smiled and said: "It's no wonder that Zhu brother said you're a very interesting person, indeed your ideas are beyond those of normal people!"

  "It's definitely in the woodshed." Wu Yue'e nodded resolutely after hearing her father's plan: "Because Ximen Qing always does it this way, Li the Abacus was beaten to a pulp and is definitely locked up in the woodshed, because Ximen Qing still wants to spare his life."

  "What if you don't want to stay?" Wu Da Shu couldn't help but ask.

  "That's in the back pigpen." said Wu Yue-niang.

  "Seriously! At this critical moment, is this issue so important?" Wu Qianhu's forehead bulged with blue veins as he stared at his unreliable son: "Your sister said it was in the woodshed, then it's in the woodshed."

  "Daughter, where will you put that account book?"

  Wu Yue-niang thought for half a day, but still didn't have a definite answer: "It's hard to say. Originally it was definitely in the accounting room, but now that Li has been caught, it's probably not in the accounting room. There are several possibilities: the little scoundrel's place in the backyard or the study. However, it can almost be confirmed that those account books are still inside that trunk."

  "Good!" Wu Qianhu nodded, pushed open the window and looked at the dark outside: "We only have tonight's opportunity. Son, you are too reckless, definitely can't find the box with the account book, Ximen Qing's house you also often go to, the thatched cottage on the side is handed over to you, must be quick and nimble."

  "The account book can only be handled by me personally." Wu Qianhu gritted his teeth: "No matter what, if we can destroy one piece of evidence among the human and physical evidence, tomorrow when we go to court, we can stick to it tightly, and the county magistrate will have no way to deal with us."

  "Father, why not get rid of Ximen Qing directly?" Wu Yuefang suddenly said coldly: "Anyway, it's not very peaceful now. We might as well get rid of Ximen Qing and that little cheap woman together, write 'Water Margin' on the wall, and even if the county magistrate suspects later, he won't dare to come to our house to arrest people directly. Others will definitely think it was done by the Liangshan bandits."

  Wu Qianhu looked at his daughter and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. Although Ximen Qing was despicable, his own daughter didn't even maintain the slightest dignity as a wife, which was also heart-wrenching.

  But on the other hand, this can also be considered a good method.

  "Good!" Wu Qianhu nodded and said: "My daughter is right! If possible, I'll take care of that pair of dog men and women."

  Wu Qianhu and his uncle Wu Daboyi changed into black clothes, put on masks, revealing only four bright thief eyes, each carrying a sharp knife in their waist, and also carried a steel knife on their back, preparing to take action.

  "Sister, wait for our victorious return with good news." Wu Da Shu said something so corny at the end that it almost didn't kill Wu Qian Hu.

  The two of them didn't even wake up the little servant at home, and they secretly left from the back door, quickly merging into the darkness.

  The streets were empty except for the patrolling yamen runners and the old night watchmen; Wu Cheng-en and his son hid in the darkness at the corner of the street to avoid the patrol, and soon arrived at Ximen Qing's mansion.

  "That's right, here." Wu Qianhu looked at the wall in front of him: "The entire mansion is just this side of the wall is the shortest, we'll go in from here."

  "Father, this wall is quite high, although it's a bit short. We don't have a ladder, how can we climb up?"

  Wu Qianhu let out a sigh, took down a cluster of rope from his waist, and in front of it was a hook. With a familiar movement, he swung the hook twice in his hand, and with a soft "pa" sound, Wu Qianhu tried it out, the rope didn't budge, clearly already tightly grasped on the top of the wall.

  "My own dad!" Wu Da Shu was directly stunned, feeling like he had just met his father for the first time: "Dad, when did you learn this move?"

  "Keep your voice down, you little rascal! Are you afraid nobody can hear?!" Wu Qianhu lowered his voice and scolded: "What's it to you? Hurry up! Dad will tell you about these things slowly later when there's time."

  Wu Da Shu tightly closed his mouth, grabbed the rope and tried it out, only to find that he couldn't exert any strength at all and couldn't climb up. He then turned around with a pitiful expression to look at his own father.

  "Rubbish!" Wu Qianhu pulled his son away: "Look at your old man!"

  In Wu Da Shu's astonished expression, Wu Qian Hu grasped the rope tightly and climbed up to the top of the wall in a flash: "Hold tight! I'll pull you up!"

  Wu Da Shu finally came to his senses and quickly grabbed the rope. With Wu Qian Hu's strenuous help, he managed to climb up.

  "Huh?" Wu Qianhu looked at the Ximen manor under his feet: "The one with the lit lamp is the main hall! It's still lit so late, Ximen Qing must be in the main hall!"

  Wu the Big Uncle also took a look: "Dad, why don't we go to the main hall together and take care of Ximen Qing? As the saying goes: Father and son on the battlefield!"

  They say a tiger father has no inferior son, but I ended up with such an useless son!

  Wu Qianhu shook his head sorrowfully, pointed to a small hut not far away with his hand, and said in a low voice: "No need, you will only get in the way and make things harder. That's the woodshed over there, go in the dark and kill Li Yidao with one knife, then come back here and wait for me."

  "Good!" Wu Da Shu clumsily climbed down the rope, finally falling on his butt, making Wu Qian Hu look at him with a face full of embarrassment.

  Wu Da Shu slowly got up from his crouched position after a while, made a gesture to his old man, and headed towards the woodshed.

  If it weren't for having raised him so big, I'd rather have just one knife to finish him off!

  Wu Qianhu let out a sigh, and like a nimble cat, he slid down the rope without making a sound. As soon as his feet touched solid ground, Wu Qianhu's body arched forward, heading straight for the main hall.

  In any case, let's deal with Ximen Qing first!

  Wu Da Shu made an effort to open his eyes, feeling his way forward in the endless darkness, laboriously searching for the outline of the house in front of him. He muttered to himself: "It had to be tonight, it had to be on a night as dark as this, without even a bit of moonlight, how can I find it?"

  Fortunately, the woodshed was close to where they had fallen, and Wu Dashu stumbled and staggered until he reached the door of the woodshed. He pushed it open with a creak and called out in a low voice: "Abacus Li! Abacus Li! Are you inside?"

  There was no response to his call in the darkness.

  Wu Da Shu hesitated for half a day before finally plucking up the courage to step into the woodshed and search around.

  "Ah, who kicked me!"

  Out of the darkness came a kick that sent Wu Daishu half-kneeling to the ground, and then several large hands pressed him tightly to the ground.

  Someone immediately lit the lanterns, illuminating the entire woodshed.

  The young bookkeeper held a lantern, coldly watching Wu Daishu, and several family servants pressed Wu Daishu firmly to the ground. Meanwhile, Abacus Li was tied to a pillar with two hemp walnuts stuffed in his mouth, looking at this scene in horror.

  "Bind this daring thief!" Book Boy pointed at Wu Da Shu and shouted. It was also the same foot that Book Boy kicked just now.

  "Isn't this the young book boy?" Wu Da Shu recognized him: "I am your grandfather's uncle! Wrong turn, wrong turn!"

  "Lost your way?" This explanation made everyone burst out laughing: "You damn fool, you can actually say that! Why don't you just say you were looking for the toilet and ended up here?"

  Those several family members quickly tied up Wu Da Shu with five flowers, and the sharp wrist knife on Wu Da Shu's body was also taken away by someone.

  Shu Tong'er sneered and held up the steel knife, walking in front of Wu Daishu: "You're carrying a knife while walking, you bird?"

  "Seize him at once and bind him to the pillar! Give him three hundred lashes first!"

  "Stop it! Stop it!" Wu Da Shu's face turned pale with fear: "Whatever you do, don't hit me, I'm afraid of pain."

  "Are you afraid of pain?" The young servant's small face twisted in a scowl: "Then write down, one by one, what you came here to do tonight!"

  Wu Qianhu hid in the corner, watching Ximen Qing and Jiang Jing drinking cup after cup in the hall, those account books were also piled up randomly on one side, secretly sneering: "I haven't killed anyone for decades, tonight is a good time to come and have a bloodbath at the Ximen Mansion!"

  Ximen Qing and Jiang Jing were as if unaware, continuing to drink wine noisily.

  It was strange that there wasn't even a single serving girl in the entire hall.